


The Coward of Lorule

by HylianKiore



Category: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Genre: Gen, Prologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 14:51:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3940939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianKiore/pseuds/HylianKiore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set just before the events in Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds it explains where Ravio came from, why he's doing what he's doing, and where he got all of those items that he rents to Link.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Courage is doing what needs to be done – even though you’re afraid.

She blames me.

The words sat hard and heavy in a coward's heart, where something else, something that had been destroyed long before he had been born should have sat, making every beat ache.

"You were our Hero," she spat at him, snarling with a fury that brought a flush to her face, flinging down a book to her desk.  A clean book, not something that he thought could have come from Lorule, all of their books were infested with silverfish, and nothing skittered out of this one.  The book, which Hilda had told him had been gifted to her by Yuga, came from the shining land of Hyrule.  On the page his face stared up.  His face set with sky blue eyes, and framed with strawberry blond hair, the skin tan with health.  For a moment, he didn't understand.  For one brief stomach-churning moment, he thought that his princess had lost her mind.  But she shoved the book forward.  "This is the Hero of Hyrule," she snarled, putting emphasis on the word 'hero'.  Jabbing her white gloved finger against the page.  "The Hero that appears whenever their Kingdom is in need, always the same, always reborn.  The bearer of the Triforce of Courage.  You appeared here, Ravio.  You appeared here with the Hero's face, and when Lorule cried out to you to save Her, you run like a frightened rabbit.  You run and hide, and when there's nowhere left to run you pull your hat down around your ears and cringe in the corner. You are a coward."

He was, too.  He could only flinch from her, his dark head bowed, studying the threadbare carpets of the castle in the darkness of the Princess' study.  There were no bees left in Lorule to provide wax, thus, no candles.  He didn't try to defend himself.  He simply bore her anger, tears stinging in his dull green eyes, but he refused to let them fall.  Not in front of her.  He had that much courage.

He was supposed to be the one who made her smile with his quick wit and even quicker slight of hand.  He was her companion, her friend, a confidant.  He stayed by her side, drawn to her by some strange trick of fate, sharing his schemes on how he was going to be the richest in Lorule, outside of Her Grace, naturally. And they, he and the princess, would be friends forever.

He would have given a thousand rupees to see the smile on her lips again.  A million to see those crimson eyes crinkle up with mirth.  But he didn't even have the words to defend himself, so he stood, and did what he could.  He took her verbal abuse in uncharacteristic silence the vain hope that it would make her feel better.

She had grown silent at the cringing form in front of her, watching his pale hands wring the tatty royal purple and gold hat.  She'd once called him friend, despite his upbringing in the Thieves' Town, she'd invited him into her home, a fact of which she reminded him now.  She berated him, called him cowardly, thieving, useless, until she was exhausted.  And still he stood before her, even though he wanted to run.  He was her friend.  Even if she was no longer his.

If Lorule's condition was indeed his fault, he owed at least this to her.

Then she outlined her plan to him.  Her tone shifted as she did.  Becoming smug, determined.  She rubbed Yuga in his face as if he were someone to be lauded.  Celebrated.  She told him of how she planned to resurrect a demon lord who had nearly destroyed Hyrule before, to return with the Triforce of Power.  How this would activate the Hero's Triforce of Courage. How this would unite the three pieces of their Triforce, a Triforce that had not been destroyed in the misguided hope that in the absence of the lust for its power the wars that had rampaged across the Kingdom would finally cease.  After she had activated and captured the Bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, always the princess, a princess like Hilda herself, and slain the Hero for his Triforce, she would bring the sacred triangles back to Lorule and this would bring their Kingdom back to flourishing life.  She'd snarled her curses at Hyrule, how they had been blessed so long.  Generations.  His heart hurt, and the words he wanted to ask her died in his throat, even as he pulled his hat back on and clutched the chest of his purple and gold tunic.

"Where is the wisdom in this…?" he finally asked, his voice meek, small in the dark of the castle study, while the things howled in the darkness of a dying…dead kingdom.

She looked at him as if he had slapped her, her scarlet eyes widening, the blood draining from her face, her dark hair making her look ghostly, before she bared her teeth at him, the word 'coward' formed by pale purple lips, though unheard, the blood pounding loud in his ears.

And then she dismissed him.

And then he fled.


	2. 3 days to go

He gave the chest a fierce kick with his foot, yelping as he was pretty sure he'd broken a toe, but the rotten wood finally collapsed, and he thrust his hand into the old moldy soggy mess, pulling out what he hoped would be a useful item.

 He sat down, and pulled his boot off, looking at his toes.  His feet were wet and shriveled, but intact.  He wanted to cry, but he knew that would draw attention to where he was, as if the kick to the chest hadn't been bad enough.  He pulled his boot back on,and leaned back against the remains of the wood and metal, until a centipede as thick as his thumb crawled out onto his shoulder, causing him to cry out in alarm and bat at the thing with the boomerang he had rescued.

 A weapon meant for a Hero.

 He glowered at it.  Lorule had no heroes.

 He had three days.  Three days until his princess, his beautiful Hilda…attempted to destroy one thing for the hope of returning life to another.  Of course he'd been told stories of Hyrule as a child, a place full of light and warmth, that had a Triforce that brought balance to the Kingdom.  And when the Hero was needed, the Triforce would reach out to him, and he would be courageous, doing what was needed to restore that balance to the world.

 As a child, Ravio had been enthralled by these stories.  He'd snatched up sticks and fenced with unseen foes, pretending to be the hero of legend.

 As an adult, sitting cold and wet against a mouldering box in a hellish desecrated temple, he wondered if the parents of Hyrule ever told their children stories of Lorule.

 Probably to frighten them.

 He heard something slither in the darkness, and he shivered violently.  He was not cut out for this.  Even though the monsters of the world had spilled out into the open from their horrible lairs, and these places mostly sat abandoned, it had taken him the better part of a day to venture into the first one.

 After he'd barricaded himself in his own house, wanting to hide behind the pile of things.  Before he'd figured out a plan.  A plan that might stop Hilda from destroying Lorule, Hyrule, and herself.

 He pulled his hat down closer around his ears, and stuffed the boomerang into the leather pouch at his back.  He sucked a breath, and made a mad sprint for the exit.

 Outside he threw up the only thing he'd been able to find to eat.  A mealy apple, and half a worm.  

 The other half of the worm he'd given to the bird, who he'd named Sheerow, that seemed to like to keep residence on him somewhere, or fly in little circles around his head.  

 It was nice to have a friend.  Even if said friend was doing figure 8's around you, fretting with soft little chirps.  Maybe Sheerow wasn't his friend.  Maybe the little bird had found a person that was bigger and would take more blows to reduce to a puddle of purple and red mush while the little creature flew away.  Maybe Sheerow was his friend.  Could Lorulians have friends?

 Ravio leaned against the wall and looked up at his companion. "This isn't me," he said holding up the boomerang.  "But I got it."

 Sheerow tweeted his approval, and landed on Ravio's shoulder, cuddling against his cheek, the small fuzzy body warm against his cold pale skin.  It was nice to have someone to be proud of him.  He would call the creature friend for now, unlike Hilda, who he didn't know where he stood with her.

 He couldn't let her do this.  He could not let her destroy another world for a last gasp at saving this one.  

 Ravio loved Lorule.  He loved it, despite its foul smell, its sickly, failing crops, its yawning chasms that had no bottom, the aching bone deep cold that slithered from the high mountains, and the terrible twisted monsters that were more than willing, giddy, almost, to tear you limb from limb and beat the rest of you to death with the parts if they got the chance.  This was his home.  This was his princesses' home.

 There was a faint glimmer of something that he felt inside, but it was gone before he was able to fully register it.  He pushed himself up away from the wall, some of the bricks crumbling as he did.  The thick air in the Kingdom tended to make things decay faster, bricks were no exception.  

 The people were no exception.

 He didn't have a sword, not that he knew how use one even if he did.  His magic was achingly limited, and the one time he tried to use the fire rod that he had rescued from another chest he was left shaking and shivering, his vision going grey at the edges, and vaguely glad that he had already lost his breakfast back after he'd managed to ste- liberate the boomerang. 

 And he'd just pissed off the knight who'd come after him…rather than boil him alive in his armor.  

 He panted a small smile, and skittered out of there as fast as he could run.

 Aching, sick, and hungry he returned home, slipping into the back so that no one would see him (and thus attempt to rob him).  He hid in his house, huddled in the corner, as Sheerow found a blanket from…somewhere, his place was still a mess, the barricade still stretched out across the front of the house, and pulled it up over him.  He nodded his weak thanks, and pulled down the book from the desk, and began writing. 

_ 3 days to go -  _

_ She wants to do the right thing. _

_ I wish I could help her. _

_ But leaving is my only option. _

 

He wasn't sure why he was writing.  If he failed, Hyrule would be destroyed, and it would probably take Lorule with it.

If he succeeded, then Lorule was doomed anyway.

He drew his legs up, hiding under the blanket…and cried.


	3. Confronting the Princess

He knew going back to the castle was probably a stupid idea.  Sheerow had probably sensed it as well, as the little bird had grabbed his hat and tried to tug him back into the house squealing indignantly.  But he needed to see her again.  He needed to be sure that she was set on this terrible quest to save her world, and not that he'd made up the whole thing after breathing too much of the swamp gas when he'd tried to find another apple.

When he approached the Princesses chambers, there were no guards to keep him away, they had abandoned the castle years ago, he heard the cooing voice, smoother than the slime that clung to the rocks at the cesspool they called a lake.

"Your highness," Yuga purred.  "Preparations are in order.  I will use my magic to slip into the crack between our worlds, and I will locate the sages as well as the Princess, and you will use this bracelet to join me.  Once the sages have been gathered, this will activate the Triforce of Wisdom.  The return of the Demon Lord Gannon," there was a pause, and Ravio's stomach turned as he imagined the smile that slithered across the man's painted face, "into this humble vessel, will not only bring the Triforce of Power back to the land of Hyrule, but will begin the process of activating the Triforce of Courage."  Ravio peeked around the corner of the door, careful not to touch it, as he knew those hinges squeaked.  He saw Yuga's rows of dreadlocked ponytails, the back of his bright orange head.  He flinched as the man laughed, wild manic laughter.

"I will transform these undeserving sages into paintings, this will keep them from being trouble, your Grace.  You, my liege, will then fool the sap into locating, and restoring the Sages, pretending to be assisting him.  Once this has been done, the Triforce of Courage will be restored.  We will then quickly slay the hero, and take the Triforce of Courage and restore the full Triforce for the glorious Kingdom of Lorule."

Yuga bowed, going to one knee before the shabby desk of Hilda, who looked down at him, her back straighter than Ravio had seen it in a long time.  Her violet lips curled into a smile, and she nodded, picking up the thick ancient bracelet and setting it aside on the desk.

"The crack in the Triforce tablet should be large enough for us to slip through in two more days," Yuga said, his sing-song voice crooning.  He then loosed with another one of those laughs, laughs that made Ravio want to pull his hat down around his ears, and hide in the corner.  The man then strode out, his head thrown back, chest puffed. 

The violet clad man hiding behind the door didn't feel much passionately.  A lust for rupees, perhaps.  Fear was probably his strongest emotion.  But in that moment, watching Yuga stalk by, with a wave of his wand summoning painted guards to flank him from the walls, Ravio hated.  He hated with a passion that made him wish he'd had a sword and he could have lopped this clown's painted head off of his shoulders.  Something in him wanted to find a way, find the courage to take this evil manipulative creature down and save his princess and his kingdom…

Instead, Ravio hid, he hid behind the squeaking door until Yuga was gone.  He looked around the thick wood, before he drew a breath, and stepped into the room.  "Still intent on doing this?" he asked, voice rough with disuse, her vassal approaching on near silent feet.

"Ravio," Hilda breathed, looking up at her friend.  "Yuga's plan is sound," she said dismissively, looking back to her papers again.

"You heard him, yes?" Ravio said, feeling a little more force behind his voice, trying to find that hate he'd felt for Yuga, and the strength to do what needed to be done.  "Slaying their Hero.  Resurrecting a Demon Lord?" he asked, incredulous.  "This isn't you, Hilda.  You once wouldn't have given a second thought to a plan such as this."  He said, moving closer to her.  "You wouldn't have let that demonic clown use you like this, manipulate you!"  He held her dull red eyes with his own, and she met them with defiance.  "The Hilda that I knew would have thrown him from her sight for even suggesting that recovering a kingdom would cost not only one innocent life, but dozens.  Hundreds.  Thousands."  He stood beside her desk, his hands pressed flat to some of the papers she had been trying to pay attention to, but those eyes, the color of the cheapest rupees, bore into hers.

"And what would you have me do, Ravio?"  She snapped back, surprised that he did not flinch away.  "Would you have me run to Hyrule?  Live there while my Kingdom falls into the abyss of oblivion?  Where would you have me hide, Coward of Lorule?"  She snarled.

Ravio's heart pounded in his chest, even as he felt Sheerow scrabbling at his hair to maintain his position in his hat.  He leaned forward a little, and summoned up every little bit of anger, and fear, and hate that his heart could hold, and even as his legs trembled with the desire to run away from this frightening woman he had once called friend, he narrowed his eyes at her.  "I would have let Lorule fall with dignity."  

Hilda stared up at him, and for a moment, a brief moment, he saw the lost frightened girl he knew.  His princess, who had cried on his shoulder at the loss of her family, who had bore every report of landslides, the verbal attacks of the men she had tried to lead in a rebuild of her Kingdom, the beautiful, wise, strong, courageous Princess Hilda who had invited a Thief's son into her home because he had a kind face, tearstained as it had been.

Then that princess was gone, and the hard, cruel woman had returned.

"Leave, Coward," she hissed.  "If you are not with us, you are against us.  I'm certain Yuga would be quite pleased to have you as a portrait above the royal mantle."

He drew back, dropping his hands to his sides.  She looked up at him, eyes hard as glittering rupees.  "I will not tolerate your traitorous cowardice any further.  If you are seen again, I will tell Yuga to alert his soldiers that you are banished henceforth.  Flee, Ravio.  Do what is in your nature to do."

Though he was not surprised, the banishment still hurt.  He took a step backwards, and another, before he turned, glanced back over his shoulder to his princess, his Hilda, who's eyes were glassy with unshed tears, her chin raised defiantly, as she pretended papers were more important than the man in front of her.  

Head bowed, he left.  It wasn't until he was around the corner that he looked down at his hands, at the bracelet he had stolen from her desk.  The first, he was sure, in a long string of betrayals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not 100% sure that that plot is right, but, hey, I've never been great at plots!


	4. 2 days to go

Ravio learned that word traveled fast.  He was on his way back from collecting another treasure, a rod that controlled the sand, odd as there was no sand in Lorule, when he was attacked.  Yuga's mindless magical troops came after him the moment they saw his dark hair and purple tunic.  He had nearly been killed as they'd come for him.  He'd escaped with his life, but only just, and retreated to his home, and hid there for a while.  

He couldn't be seen.  He'd been banished, and probably labeled a thief by now, rightfully so.  After he'd finished his panic attack that had left him shaking and hurting, he began to dig through his house for anything that would keep him safe.  He'd purchased a robe and hood for moving about the Thieves Town, since they'd been taken over by the mask cult, and no one's face should be seen anyway.

He pulled the robe on, and tugged the hood into place.  It made it more difficult to see, of course, the rabbit's eyes were spaced far apart, but were thankfully made of muslin, and in the darkness of his hood, he could see through them, but it also meant that he wouldn't be stabbed on sight.  He sighed a little, looking at himself in the mirror, barely recognizing his own gaunt haunted face.  He frowned at the face that he was having trouble seeing as his own, and not the disappointing face of a failed hero.

He hid beneath the hood, but he couldn't get himself to go out again that day, too afraid of the soldiers that he could hear stalking about outside his home.  Sheerow tweeted in little circles, the small bird knowing that something important was needing to be done.  

Instead, Ravio grabbed his journal, and opened it to the page he had been writing on.

_ 2 days to go _

_ She's being duped.  Doesn't she  _

_ realize that?  He's just a leech. _

_ There's no choice but to go. _

He stared at the conviction in his own scratched words, and hid beneath the blanket again, drawing the hood down far over his face.  Sleep took its time to come to him this time, but when it did, he did not dream.


	5. 1 day to go

Ravio was sore from sleeping sitting up, and when he unfolded himself, every part of him ached.  

Shaking that hard for so long will do that to you.  

He stretched himself out, before he glanced over at the bag of items he'd managed to acquire.  

A boomerang, a hookshot, four rods, bombs, and a hammer.  He looked at Sheerow as the little bird peered up at him with his beady black eyes.  Ravio nodded, the rabbit's ears of his hood bouncing a little as he did.

One last weapon.  One last advantage he could give the Hylian hero once he found him.

He looked at the bracelet, picking it up, peering at the jewel.  When he'd heard that Hilda intended to use it to escape to Hyrule, he figured if he could steal it from her, he could prevent her from going to Hyrule, and then at least warn them of Yuga's intent to raise the demon king.  

With a soft sigh, he turned the bracelet over in his hand.  It had magic, but it was faint and weak. 

A lot like him.

He pulled the bracelet on and covered it with his robe.  He looked at Sheerow, and then nodded.  One last item, then he wouldn't need to enter another terrifying cave ever again.

He pushed himself up off of the ground, and leaned back against the wall, rubbing his face with his hands beneath the hood.  Ugh, that bracelet smelled terrible.  He waved his hand a little as if to help disperse the scent, and contemplated how he should work this final day.

He then decided if he thought about it too long, he would never leave the house, and he trotted out through the hole at the back of his home.

—

The Bow was located in some ruins that may have once been a palace in the east.  Though, they had long been taken over by some horror in its depths, and the soldiers who had once served Hilda had defected, probably by some mental manipulation to patrol the grounds.  

Ravio hid behind a boulder, watching the patterns of the soldiers.  He was a coward, and a traitor, but he was at least going to do this.

Skulking around corners, hiding, and stealing was something that came naturally to Ravio, but the sweeping red gaze of the guards was something that was difficult to avoid.  There was a point where Ravio, terrified and shaking, had pressed his back up against the wall, and fervently wished that he could become part of it…

And then it happened.  The world went suddenly flat, as if nothing had any depth.  He looked to his left, and dashed along the wall, literally, just as flat and as any other of Yuga's horrible painted soldiers.  But the guards couldn't see him!  He dashed like the rabbit he was dressed as, running for the chest he could see in the distance.  But he felt his magic beginning to sputter, and he was unceremoniously flung from the wall onto his knees, panting in exhaustion.  He looked down at his arm to the bracelet and its flickering purple crystal.  THAT was how Yuga had intended to bring Hilda to Hyrule.  She was going to use this bracelet slip through the crack.  

And that was how Ravio was going to get to Hyrule before them.  Find the hero, outfit him with weapons so that he could defeat the resurrected demon lord.  Save the day, and his princess.

His magic wasn't what it should have been, and the bracelet was fragile, so he didn't want to use it unless he had to.  He was able to grab the final weapon, pulling it out of the chest with a triumphant cry.  

Of course, this was about when he felt he was being watched.  Ravio froze, and pushed back the hood of his robe, looking back over his shoulder.  

Two glowing eyes towered over him, shining in the crystals that sprouted from the beasts body.  There was a terrifying low rumble, and the sound of massive clawed footsteps coming for him.

Ravio stared as these eyes approached him from the darkness, rooted to the spot by his own terror, the bow clenched in his fist.  He looked at those cruel golden glowing orbs, and he thought of Lorule.  He thought of his princess, and how, though she didn't know it, she was depending on him.  He forced himself to his feet, shaking and frightened, readied the bow, and drew the string back.

In the darkness, Ravio felt his weak magic gather, and motes of violet light began appearing between the bow and the string, they coalesced slowly into a shining violet line, before an arrow appeared when the magic shattered, straight, and sharp, and fletched with purple, white and teal feathers.

He didn't aim, the point of the arrow wobbled precariously as he trembled, and his whole body rocked back as he loosed the arrow.  It flew true, the one true thing Ravio had done with his whole cowardly life, and the arrow pierced the beasts left eye.  the creature ROARED in agony and anger, clawing at its face as the arrow disappeared into magical oblivion.  

Ravio ran.  He ran blindly through the dark, looking towards the light, and escaped into the Lorulian night.  He collapsed to his knees, coughing, panting, tears streaming down his cheeks.  He was not a hero.  He was NOT a hero.

But he hadn't frozen when the beast had been bearing down on him.

Sheerow buzzed around his head as he gathered himself, the small bird flapping its wings and chirped encouraging sounds at him.  Ravio looked up at the little bird, a white spot in the darkness, and smiled.  He'd made it, he had a solid plan, everything was falling into place.

He found his way back to his house, and collapsed onto corner near the desk, where he'd made his little burrow of blankets.  He peered at the journal, before he finally pulled it down.  He bit his lower lip, wanting to write about the fantastic shot he'd taken, but no one would ever know about that.  No one would ever read this journal.  Lobule was going to fall into the abyss, the kingdom would crumble, and no one would care that a coward scratched out a few last words in a book.

It was something odd and strange deep in his chest that made him dip the pen into the ink.

_ 1 Day to Go _

_ I have so little magic.  Enough to _

_ go there — maybe not to come back. _

_ But tomorrow must be the day. _

_ I may never see her again, but _

_ I vow to save her from all of this. _

He pulled a breath deep into his lungs, and closed the book, that glimmer of hope making him put it back onto his desk.  Sheerow looked at it, before he picked it up, and tried to give it back.  "Leave it there," Ravio said.  "Maybe someone'll come by some time after we've left and read it.  Wouldn't that be neat?" he asked, smiling.  "Someone'll see that I was here, and that I tried to do something."

Sheerow landed on the desk, and canted his head from side to side, looking up at Ravio, before he looked down at the book, and danced about a little on it.

"Tomorrow we're going to go see why they tell legends of Hyrule," he said, smiling.  


	6. Hyrule

He hadn't known where to look, but he used some strange intuition that he'd not noticed before.  It didn't take long before he found the crack in the wall just outside of the Thieves' village, as there was a warm golden glow emanating from it.

Ravio looked at the bracelet, remembering how he had done it the day before.  He looked to Sheerow, before he lifted his hood, and the bird ducked into the robes, settling against his neck.  "Ready, buddy?" he asked, drawing a breath, adjusting the bag he'd tossed over his shoulder with all of the items he'd gathered.  

Summoning uncharacteristic braveness, Ravio touched the bracelet, and with a breathed prayer, he slammed his shoulders to the wall, and became a part of it.  He felt his magic quivering, so he moved quickly, sliding into the crack between worlds.

The experience was nauseating.  Flashing colors, twisting depths, as Ravio scrambled forward, desperate to just get out of there.

And then warmth touched his face, and he leapt off of the wall, taking in a deep breath of air…that didn't reek of sulphur and decay.  He was standing in the sun, the SUN, on a road, with green grass beneath his feet.  

At his wrist, he felt the bracelet tremble, and he looked down at it, the crystal shattered.  That was alright.  He didn't think he would be going home.  

Though, seeing the certainty of it hurt.  

He shifted the bag on his shoulder, and resisted the urge to lift his rabbity hood and look around further, without the teal obstruction.  The sun was warm, which was not something he'd experienced in a long time.  Despite this, he pulled his scarf up to hide the lower half of his face, and tried not to weep at the beauty of the world around him.

Sheerow tweeted as he flew in lazy circles in the warm sun, obviously approving of this improvement in their position.  Ravio looked around, and recognized the area.  How he could recognize an area he had never actually been to sort of blew his mind, and he cleared his throat, and set his feet on the road.

The sign didn't say Thieves' Village, but rather Kakariko, a name that Ravio had heard once or twice in his youth.  The town was … quaint.  He'd not thought that he'd ever be able to actually apply that word to a village, but in this world of sun and light and an intact Triforce…it fit.

He went to the place the Milk bar was in his beautiful (figurative) Lorule, and wasn't entirely surprised to find that there was a well lit, clean Milk Bar here as well.

"And," boasted a man wearing a yellow robe.  "I will march in there and prove that I am a descendant of the Seven Sages!" he said, throwing his head back in a pose that reminded Ravio terribly of Yuga.  

A man laughed, sitting at the bar.  "Sure you will, Osfala," he said, waving his hand at the man in yellow.  "And what's the reason for you to show off your might?"

Osfala laughed, though there was nothing sinister in it.  "I will put an end to this Yuga nonsense."  He said, smiling, striking another pose, his chin lifted, head back, foot braced against a stool.

Ravio's ears perked, and he tilted his head a little, as he smiled.  Well!  He could help with that!

He sidled up beside the man, and put on the biggest smile he could muster.  "I hear you're going adventuring, good sir!" he said, smiling.  "I am but a humble traveling merchant, and I believe that I have something that could help you in your quest!"

Osfala raised a white eyebrow.  "Oh?" he cooed, before he smiled.  "What wares do you have, Merchant, I may be interested."

Ravio smiled and reached into the bag, before he withdrew the first thing his hand closed around.  "This," he said, adding an air of mystery, "is a Sand Rod.  It allows you to control the sand, and force it to do your bidding."

Osfala's eyes widened.  "Yes, yes that would be fitting of a descendant of the Seven Sages."

Ravio smiled, waving the rod lightly.  "I will rent it to you.  The rental terms are for the rest of your life.  You fall in battle, or go beyond where my pal Sheerow here can reach you, the contract ends, and the goods return to me."  He showed off the little rabbit ears he'd attached to the top of the rod.  It had taken some time, and a little magic to enchant the little marks of Ravio's ownership, and tie them to himself, and to Sheerow, allowing the bird to find the fallen, and return the item to Ravio.  "But hey, that could be forever, right?" he said.  "Unless you plan on dying."

Osfala's eyes were wide, and he smiled.  "How much?"

"For you, pal, fifty rupees."

Osfala had the purple rupee pressed into the fake merchant's hand before the words had finished leaving his lips.

"It's all yours, buddy," Ravio chirped, patting him on the back.

Osfala waved the wand experimentally, though Ravio felt no magic from him.  He snorted, and wondered if he'd just doomed the man, but as he felt the rupee in his pocket he knew what they said about people who were soon parted with their money.

He pushed himself up to standing, throwing the bag over his shoulder again, smiling, waving.  He needed to find the Hero.  Once he did that, he could outfit him in the same way.  Maybe stall him in his quest by renting the items similarly to how he'd rented them to Os-fella-guy.  That would give him more time to come up with a better plan.  He didn't think the loss of the bracelet would stop Yuga or Her Grace.  

It would take a huge smash of power to get the bracelet to working condition again.  He tilted his head a little, peering at the leather clinging to his arm.  Before he smiled.

If he gave it to the Hero, Yuga would try to turn him into a painting.  That would be the power that would bring the bracelet back up to speed, and allow the hero to escape.

He smiled brightly, the sun warming him under his rabbit robe.  He may not have been courageous, but he was clever!

With that, he closed his eyes.  Sheerow bounded in little circles around his head as he leaned back against a wall.  Like called to like, right?  

Hyrule felt like it had more magic.  That it wasn't about to chew up anyone who reached out to touch it.  And Ravio knew that there was a sleeping Hero here, a Hero who had not been awakened.  

He followed the feel of the magic, and winced as he felt another magic, slimy and familiar, slither between him and the Hero.

Ravio began to run, the first time in his life that he ran towards the danger, terrified he was already too late, that the Hero had already become a crude painting on the wall. He did duck behind a gravestone, grabbing his tall rabbit's ears pulling them down as Yuga strode out of the building, a painting in tow.

He waited for some time before he slipped into the doors.  He'd not seen a place such as this, but he'd heard stories about it.  In the stories it was where the princess had waited in safety for her hero.

But Ravio's heart sank as he spied a painting of a man on the wall, and then when he saw a boy clad in a green tunic in a heap on the floor.

Sheerow trilled above him as Ravio went to the boy and pushed his own rabbit hood back.  It was one thing to know that somewhere out there, someone had your face.  It was a whole other to be staring at it.  The boy had smashed his nose against something, and was already developing two black eyes.  Ravio just couldn't see Yuga punching him, so the image that came to mind was the Hero diving face first into the wall.  Ravio suddenly questioned the wisdom of all of this.  Could this kid be Hyrule's Hero?  He looked the part, with delicate features, and strawberry blonde hair.  But not with the broken nose, black eyes, a sword that was too big for him discarded to the side, and no shield.  

Ravio sighed, before he reached down and hauled the Hero to his shoulder, tucking his sword into his belt.  He was involved now.  No doubt about it.

His feet knew the way, he'd walked this same road a thousand times, though never in the bright cheery sun, listening to birds chirping in the healthy trees on either side.  He had to assume that his Hylian counterpart lived in a house just south of the castle, as he lived in a house just south of Lorule's castle.  

He shouldered his way into the house, looking around.  It ached that it was so familiar, though the colors somehow brighter.  He dropped his broken Hero onto the bed, and promptly began cleaning his face up.  With a bit of healing magic he fixed his nose, wincing as he was sure the crack of it was going to wake him, but those eyes, eyes he was sure were blue, remained closed.  

He looked up at Sheerow.  "So," he said casually.  "Would you have taken his items from him for this?"

Sheerow tweeted and flew in a little loop.  Ravio wasn't entirely sure if that was a yes, but, he rested his head on his hand, and sat at the table.  All of the anxiety, all of the panic, all of the terror, and here he was watching his counterpart sleep.  He frowned some, before he got up, pulling his hood back into position, and stepped briefly outside.  He'd seen an apple tree full of apples when he'd dragged the unconscious Hero back here, and he was starving.  He pulled down two of them, and ate one, core and all.  He looked up at Sheerow, before he smiled.  "Sorry buddy, no worms in these."  He said, twisting the other apple open to show the lack of insects.  He'd not had apples this sweet in years.

Ravio could feel when the hero was beginning to wake.  There was something that felt more awake within himself, something on the edge of his consciousness.  He looked up at Sheerow, and drew a breath.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to do this.  He wasn't sure if he could stall the hero long enough to form a plan that didn't involve everyone dying.  He didn't know if this was all a big waste of time, delaying the inevitable.  

But as he pulled the door open, and looked at the stirring hero, he felt that he was a part of something larger.  

He watched as the other boy sat up in his bed, looking around, his blue eyes hooded and still a little dazed.  Ravio didn't quite realize how quietly he walked, until the hero peered at him, tried to finch back no doubt startled by the thousand yard stare of his rabbit hood, miscalculated where he was on the bed, and twisted, falling face first onto the floor.

Ravio groaned internally.  He may have been the Coward of Lorule, but at least he wasn't this clumsy.

"Ooh, you're waking up."  He chirped, trying to effect a cheerful voice.  He knew it would be hard to throw out someone who was just so damn happy.  "Good.  I was starting to worry about you, buddy."

He watched as the hero shifted a little, his hand twitching, groaning, the boot of one foot still propped up against the bed, and was briefly glad that he had healed the other boy's broken nose.  

"The name's Ravio," he chirped with enthusiasm that would have put Sheerow to shame.  When the blond failed to react, he felt his shoulders slump a little.  "Hey," he barked.  "You listening to me?"  This time through his hood he could see the hero shift to try to look at him, one eye still closed.  "What, the rug tastes really good or something?" he asked, tired of how long he was just laying there.

He'd practiced his spiel, so he continued.  "I'm a traveling merchant, I found you in the Sanctuary.  Passed out," he said, adding emphasis.  "Alone," he most certainly did not notice the painting of the man on the wall.  "Strange if you ask me."

The other boy groaned, and his leg flopped down from the bed as he pushed himself to standing.  Ravio wasn't sure if that was a glare, or maybe the kid always kind of had a sour expression.  "It looked like you needed a pal," Ravio continued, smiling so it came through in his voice.  "So, I took the liberty of lugging you here to this vacant house!"  He gestured about, knowing full well that it wasn't vacant.  There was still food fresh from last night's cooking over the cold fireplace.  "Seemed like the the perfect place for you to shake off the snores."

"It's not vacant," Ravio had to lean in a little to hear the voice, a little higher than he had thought, but, then again, everyone hears their own voice lower than others around them.  "This is my house."

"Say what?"  Ravio said, smiling, rubbing the back of his hooded head.  "This is your house?"  he snorted, and waved his hands.  "Looked empty-ish to me."

The hero shook his head out a little, and rubbed his face.  Ravio really got the chance to look at him in action.  Same face, same way of standing, same height, same build.  It really was pretty astounding.

"Wait…"  Ravio said, waving his hands.  "So, tell me, what happened to you, buddy?" he asked, wanting to be sure of exactly what had gone on at the Sanctuary.

The other boy sighed, slumping his shoulders a little.  That was a move Ravio knew well.  "I was about to deliver a sword to the captain…"  he reached out before he rattled the blade on his back, "And I heard Seras scream.  The doors slammed themselves and locked tight.  Fortunately, there was a secret passage beneath the building through the graveyard, and I came out just in time to see this…"  The hero searched for the words.  "He looked like a clown," he said finally, and Ravio had to keep the nervous giggles from bubbling up from his stomach.  He'd always thought so too.

"But," the green clad boy was continuing, "He had already turned the Captain into a painting, I suppose, and then he turned Seras into one as I watched."  He suddenly looked stricken.  "I ran up to them, and I made a grab for the man, but…he somehow turned himself into a painting.  And I plowed right into the wall."

Ravio had figured as much, but he was interested that this boy spoke the truth, rather than lied to make himself look more impressive.  "You don't say," Ravio thought his voice sounded thoughtful.  At least, he hoped it did.  "Some strange man turned a girl into a painting?"  And then you ate the wall…

"So," he said, trying to figure out how to say that without being insulting. "You got done in trying to stop him, huh?"

He then smiled brightly, leaning his head back enough that he knew the other could see his mouth.  "That makes you a hero, buddy!"  He chirped happily, figuring at worst, he could bolster this kids courage and get him on the road to where he belonged.  "A real, live, genuine hero!"

The hero eyed the coward suspiciously, blue eyes taking in the rabbit outfit, and the small bouncing bird that was hovering at his side.

Ravio watched this, before he pulled his hood down, afraid that he would recognize the line of his own jaw.  "But why are you standing around talking to me then?  You've gotta report this to the castle!"  he said, making a shooing motion, reaching out for the boy's tunic, gripping it, beginning to march him towards the door.

The sooner he got him out there, the better.  He had kingdoms to save.

Sheerow pulled another fast loop, and bonked Ravio's shoulder, giving him a 'Aren't you forgetting something' glare.

"Oh!  Hey!  Wait a minute!"  Ravio called out, grabbing the tunic and pulling the other young man back into the house.  The hero looked a bit whiplashed. 

"To tell you the truth," Ravio began, wanting to be sure that this Hylian hero had no comfortable place to call home.  "I've been looking for a place to say," he said with a breathy laugh.  "it's been hard to find somewhere good.  So, uh."  He hesitated, throwing all into his ability to act there on the spot.  "This is awkward…"  He said, rubbing the back of his neck beneath his hood.

"Mind if I stay here for a while?  Just a couple of days, I promise!" he added quickly.  If Lorule wasn't saved by then…

The other boy looked between the wide set mesh eyes of the rabbit's hood, and Ravio could hear him thinking.  "Yeah, sure," the other said, shrugging.  

"Really?  Thanks a million!"  he crowed excitedly, even Sheerow getting in on the act, bobbing about happily as if they had been looking for a home, and theirs wasn't in some horrible shambles somewhere out there.

"Finally!" he said, his shoulders slumping as if he'd been really put out.  "No more sleeping in the wild.  Tough world out there, you know?" he asked.

He could tell the other was beginning to wonder why he was talking so much.  Ravio couldn't help it, he was a chatterbox when he was nervous.  And the unamused look on the sword-bearer's face was making him nervous.

He shook his arm, and he bracelet came free.  Finally, he could pass this thing off to the person who could use it.  He could hand over his responsibility to save his on kingdom to a bona-fide hero.

"Here," he said quickly.  "Take this.  I can't pay rent yet, but it's something, at least."  He smiled and pressed the bracelet into his counterpart's hand, and then had to force the smile wider when the blond narrowed his eyes.  "I know it looks like a hunk of junk," he said, frowning at the lack of a crystal.  "But it's older than old, a real Treasure, that thing-!"

The hero frowned, watching as Ravio forced the bracelet onto his left hand and cinched it down tightly.  There was something that was muttered, but the merchant didn't quite hear it.  

"Uh, what?" he asked.

"It has…an odor."  The blond said, trying to be as kind as he could, holding his arm out away from him, as if Ravio had tied a dead skunk to his wrist.

"What odor?"  Ravio gasped, as if he hadn't noticed the thing smelled like some of the worst parts of Lorule.  "You don't want it because it SMELLS funny?"  He tried to put some hurt in his tone.  He wanted to guilt this kid into keeping his 'gift'.  He jabbed a finger at his chest.  "That's the smell of history, buddy!  Musty leather!  Moldy aromas!  The rich fragrance of a relic!"

He could see that his hero wasn't buying it, in fact, he hadn't moved, his arm still extended, disgusted by the thing.

Ravio sighed.  "Okay, fine.  I'll admit that it smells like a wet dog."  The scowl deepened.  "But you gotta know," Ravio said, holding his hands up placatingly.  "That's a GOOD smell."  He threw another bright smile on, letting the hood fall back just enough that it could be seen, his nose still hidden behind the rabbit's buck teeth.  "Besides…it's a gift!"  He jabbed another finger at the green tunic.  "So the least you could do is wear it, buddy!"

With that, he grabbed the other boy's shoulders, and leaned in closer "Now pronto, buddy!  To the castle!"  He spun the blond around, and faced him towards the door, practically shoving him out into the sun. 

The blond stumbled, and looked back at the strange rabbit clad merchant standing in the doorway of his house.  "Bye now!"  Ravio called, smiling, waving.  "See ya, Mr. Hero!"

Ravio closed the door behind him and leaned against it, panting.  He pulled his hood back and stared up at the ceiling.  That had been that.  Bracelet passed.  Hero set forth on his journey.  Warn the princess, after all, no one would believe a maniac in a rabbit costume at the palace anyway.

Now, all he had to do was make this place as unwelcoming as possible, so that his Hero didn't try to fob the job off onto someone else, and come back for a nap.  

But he walked over and slowly sat on the bed.  Sheerow did a little loop near his head, before settling on his shoulder.  

Ravio pursed his lips a little, before he looked at the bird.  "It's going to be a long few days, Sheerow," he said, using a finger to rub the bird's cheeks.  "But, the longer we can stall him, the longer it'll take for their dark lord to rise.  The longer that takes, the longer I have to figure out how to fix this."  he slid his hands into his dark hair, before he tilted his head a bit.

"Did you get his name?" he asked, and Sheerow looked thoughtful, or as much as a bird could, and then shook his head.

Ravio breathed a laugh.  "Well then," he said, nodding.  "I'll just keep reminding him of who he really is." 

The Coward of Lorule thought back on all he had done, thought to the connection he and this boy he'd never met shared, he thought about everything that he needed to do, and everything that needed to be faced and smiled faintly.  "Good luck, Mr. Hero."  He said, to no one in particular.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, hey, look! Link talks!
> 
> Ravio's dialogue is pulled straight from the game.


End file.
